Increasing Funding for and Awareness of Breast Cancer Research
Funding for the California Breast Cancer Research Program (CBCRP) from the State tobacco tax decreases every year. Moreover, current funds are not sufficient to do all that needs to be done. During 2010, the CBCRP turned down grant applications requesting a total of $13,855,061 that were rated by expert reviewers as having sufficient scientific merit for funding. Commitment and action are needed to ensure the CBCRP's present funding sources and increase funds from new sources. To address this pressing need, the CBCRP's Community Partners Program pursues two goals:
- Increasing donations to the CBCRP through the California income tax voluntary contribution program and new sources;
- Increasing public awareness of breast cancer, breast cancer research, and the California Breast Cancer Research Program.
Community Partners: Increasing Voluntary Donations to the CBCRP
The Community Partners Program has led to growth and diversification in donations to the CBCRP. During 2010, the CBCRP received major funding from the California state income tax checkoff program, a private foundation, and from the public.
California State Income Tax Checkoff Program
More than 36,000 individuals donated over $485,000 to the CBCRP during 2010 through the state income tax checkoff program. This made the CBCRP one of the checkoff program’s top beneficiary organizations for the year.
Four grants made in 2010 were funded in part through voluntary tax contributions:
- Measuring Real-World Breast Cancer Outcomes, Allison Kurian, M.D., Stanford University School of Medicine
- Light at Night and Breast Cancer Risk, Peggy Reynolds, Ph.D., Cancer Prevention Institute of California
- Targeting Brain Metastasis with a Cell-based Approach, Mihaela Lorger, Ph.D., Scripps Research Institute
- Salivary Biomarkers for Early Detection of Breast Cancer, Lei Zhang, Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
Foundation Funding
The Avon Foundation for Women has contributed $500,000 to support the CBCRP’s groundbreaking Special Research Initiatives. The funds help support a study examining long-term environmental exposures and breast cancer in a large, diverse population group and a study investigating why women from some minority groups, once they are diagnosed with breast cancer, are less likely than others to be successfully treated.Donations from the Public
Californians craised fund for the CBCRP through events and campaigns and businesses: United Way of the Bay Area; California Breast Cancer Research Program Community Partners; San Francisco Marathon Caontinue to demonstrate enthusiasm for the CBCRP's research. We thank the many generous individuals who made $40,000 in donations to the CBCRP during 2010. The following organizations and businesses use to Run; Wells Fargo Community Support Campaign; AT&T Employee Giving Campaign; Kaiser Permanente Community Giving Campaign; Spectrum Clubs, Inc.; Lighthouse Quilters Guild; Positively Negative Clothing; Chevron Humankind Matching Gift Campaign; Amgen Matching Gift Campaign; and Microsoft Matching Gift Campaign.
Web-based Giving
The public has also responded to the opportunity to make donations via the Program’s Web site, www.CABreastCancer.org.
Community Partners: Increasing Awareness of Breast Cancer Research and of the CBCRP’s Work
During 2010, the CBCRP conducted an outreach campaign focused on raising awareness of breast cancer research results and the Program’s work. As part of this campaign, on April 12, 2010, CBCRP Director Marion H.E. Kavanaugh-Lynch appeared in a newscast on San Francisco television station KPIX, speaking about the increased risk of breast cancer in young women.
The CBCRP outreach campaign also encouraged donations to the Program through state tax return contributions. A special CBCRP Web site, www.endbreastcancer.org, informs stakeholders about fundraising progress. It also summarizes progress researchers achieved with the grants funded via contributions made on state income tax returns.
To further increase state tax return contributions, the CBCRP conducted a combined outreach effort in 2010, named Checkoff California, with other California nonprofit organizations who receive these contributions. Together, the CBCRP and these nonprofit organizations created a radio and Internet marketing campaign to alert the public to the income tax checkoff program. The campaign was conducted in partnership with the California Society of Certified Public Accountants (CalCPA) and over 140 California radio stations, member stations of the Northern California Broadcasters Association, Southern California Broadcasters Association, and San Diego Radio Broadcasters Association. Campaign activities included radio public service announcements in English and Spanish, a presence on Facebook and Twitter, and a Web site highlighting all nonprofit organizations included in the income tax checkoff program.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger further boosted California's awareness of the opportunity to make donations through the tax checkoff by issuing an official proclamation declaring March 2010 as Checkoff California Month.
Honoring a Pioneer in CBCRP Visibility and Fundraising: The Faith Fancher Research Award
Faith Fancher was a long-time television news anchor and personality with KTVU (Oakland) who waged a very public battle against breast cancer. She also was the founding member of the CBCRP Executive Team, which formed in 2001 to help raise the visibility and fundraising profile of the Program. Faith passed away in October 2003 after a six-year struggle with breast cancer. In Faith's honor, the CBCRP has created the annual Faith Fancher Research Award. The award is presented each year to a researcher or research team embarking on a CBCRP-funded breast cancer study that reflects the values that Faith held most closely and extends the work that Faith did for all women facing breast cancer. The recipients of the 2010 Faith Fancher Research Award are Jeffrey Belkora, University of California, San Francisco, and Sara O'Donnell, Mendocino Cancer Resource Center, for their community collaborative research project, Recording Medical Visits for People with Breast Cancer.
